Acute effects of cocoa flavanols on cognitive control and response inhibition

In this pre-registered study, we investigated the effects of acute cocoa flavanol (CF) consumption on cognitive control and response inhibition processes, at two different dosage levels. This crossover study was randomized, placebo-controlled, gender-balanced, and double-blind, and included 36 healthy adult participants. Participants consumed three different drinks across separate sessions: a placebo drink containing alkalized cocoa powder, a low-dose drink with 415 mg CF, and a medium-dose drink with 623 mg CF, both derived from flavanol-rich cocoa powder. Following each treatment, participants completed the Flanker, Simon, and Go/No-go tasks in a counterbalanced order. We analyzed accuracy and response times for congruent and incongruent trials in the Simon and Flanker tasks, and commission errors, omission errors, and response times in the Go/No-go task. The acute effects of CF on cognitive control and response inhibition were examined using (Generalized) Linear Mixed Model analysis, which included random intercepts, fixed effects, and random slopes. Results revealed that neither dose of CF acutely improved accuracy, interference scores, errors, or response times in these three tasks. Furthermore, neither participant gender nor BMI predicted performance in cognitive control or response inhibition beyond the effects of the treatment conditions. Taken together, these findings suggest that acute cocoa flavanol consumption has no significant effect on cognitive control or response inhibition in healthy young adults.